Christmas in Florida means a seafood dinner

Forget Christmas goose; Florida's perfect for different holiday meal

Ah, the symbols of Christmas. They are so "New Englandy," as MSNBC news talker Rachel Maddow might say.

Evergreens, with bending boughs dressed with heavy fresh snow, line a rural road just wide enough for a horse-drawn sleigh to pull a blanket-bundled couple en route to a family celebration. Stars twinkle on the cloudless night. The chilly temperature freezes out the world's troubles.

Nice image, but what does that have to do with Florida?

Think about the traditional Christmas dinner. It is more Dickens than it is O. Henry, the North Carolina-born author of the poignant Christmas tale The Gift of the Magi. Who among us has had a Christmas goose?

So humbug to Christmas culinary traditions.

Florida is seafood. So why not embrace it during the holidays? The idea is not so absurd.

A Christmas tradition, Feast of the Fishes, is practiced in coastal Italian towns. There, the Christmas Eve dinner consists of a seven-course fish dinner. Why seven? Seven represents the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church. Other variations include a 12-course fish dinner (to represent Jesus and the Apostles, minus Judas) or even 13 courses (Judas gets to join in on this version).

This meal seems to be limited to family celebrations. Calls to a number of area Italian restaurants found none that planned a seven fishes menu for the holidays.

But seafood makes its way to many area tables, according to local fishmongers. Both Dan Taylor, owner of Steve's Seafood in Ponte Vedra Beach, and Lindsey Camacho, manager at Safe Harbor Seafood Market and Restaurant in Mayport, say they expect business to be brisk.

"This is probably the best time of the year, the week before Christmas," Taylor said.

People want shrimp - a lot of it. Most are using it for appetizers or in shrimp cocktails at parties. Camacho estimated that the week before Christmas her team cleans and de- veins more than 500 pounds of shrimp for customers.

Grouper and red snapper are the two local fish most in demand. Salmon from the West Coast is popular as well. Most customers are buying these fish whole to serve as a main course.

This area's often temperate Christmas days make it easy to enlist the grill for preparing fish so the house won't get a fishy smell, which just might conflict with the aroma of the mulled cider.

One way to avoid a fishy smell is to get your shrimp cleaned at the store. At Steve's Seafood, Taylor boils the shrimp at the store at no extra cost. Safe Harbor charges $1 a pound extra for cleaned shrimp and will steam them for $2 extra per pound.

Mussels and scallops are also seasonal favorites, but oysters from Apalachicola are the mollusks most in demand.

"This is the best time of the year to eat oysters, because the water is cold, and it gives them a salty flavor," Camacho said.

One advantage our New England friends have over us is the cost of Maine lobsters. They are selling at $8 to $11 a pound in the Northeast compared to as high as $16 last year. However, we won't find those savings due to shipping.

Consumers will want to call ahead to fish markets to order oysters and shrimp, the purveyors said. Demand is high, and time is short.

Fresh seafood can be purchased a couple of days before cooking and kept in the refrigerator in its store wrapper. It doesn't need to be frozen.

Serving a seafood-inspired Christmas dinner not only answers mealtime questions but serves as a special gift to your out-of-town guests, Taylor said.

"People from landlocked states come down here and all they want is seafood."